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Harmoniously Denied: 
COVID-19 and the Latent Effects of Censorship

Zhang, Joy Yueyue, Barr, Michael (2020) Harmoniously Denied: 
COVID-19 and the Latent Effects of Censorship. Surveillance and Society, . (KAR id:86624)

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Abstract

While few would doubt that censorship is a form of surveillance, the practice and theory of censorship does not hold as prominent a place within surveillance studies as one might think. In this paper, we demonstrate the constitutive effects of censorship which seep into the collective mentality and in Foucauldian terms, “conducts the conduct”. We examine the wider socio-political impact of China’s censorship of COVID-19. We argue that censorship is a force “at large”. By this we refer to the pervasive uptake of censorship practices at different levels and how it manifests itself as a form of power unchained, making it difficult, if not impossible to track and contain its impact, even for the authorities. We argue that censorship surveils the expressed and by extension, regulates the not-yet-expressed. It surveils what can be perceived, and by extension, pre-conditions the not-yet-conceived. We highlight the domestic impact of how China’s censorship regime bends its population into acquiescing to a harmonious denial of their collective prospects and how it curtails the global response.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled keywords: new censorship theory; COVID-19; China; surveillance
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
J Political Science
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Joy Y Zhang
Date Deposited: 16 Feb 2021 15:32 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Oct 2021 12:53 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/86624 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)
Zhang, Joy Yueyue: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0384-8376
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